Embodiments of the present invention relate to a curette used in spinal surgery on animals and humans, and more particularly to a multi-blade curette tool for use in spinal surgery.
It is known to use curettes in surgical and other medical procedures to debride or clean spaces or cavities in the body (e.g., ears, uterus, sinuses, cavities within skeletal structures, and spinal disk spaces). Early curettes were simple spoon-like cups. It is known to include an angled section in such spoon-like curettes to facilitate the curetting process when an opening through which the curette is inserted is smaller than the cavity to be cleaned. Ring curettes are also known. Ring curettes have two blades which contact walls of the cavity. Ring curettes allow cleaning of spaces at greater depths within the body, as ring curettes typically require less tilting than the spoon-like curettes. In operation, ring curettes do require some tilting, which leads to uneven pressure on the cavity walls. Further, ring curettes make contact at one time with only a small portion of the entire surface to be cleaned. The curetting process using known curettes tends to be time-consuming and relatively inefficient. Furthermore, ring curettes require an opening into the cavity to be nearly as large as the ring formed by the curette blades.
In general, there is a need for a more efficient curette. With the advent of minimally invasive spine surgery, there is a particular need for a more efficient and effective curette for cleaning out central portions of the disk space.